Health officials in Indiana more than 700 new cases of coronavirus and 17 additional deaths in the last 24 hours as hospitalizations and positivity rates continue to decline in the state.
According to the latest data from the Indiana State Department of Health, a total of 736 new cases were reported in the state over the last 24 hours. Those new numbers bring the state to 661,673 confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began.
Sunday’s new deaths bring the state to 12,142 as a result of the virus, with 431 more deaths currently classified as “probable” COVID-19 related fatalities.
Data shows that 31,667 new test results were returned to state laboratories in the last 24 hours, with 5,261 state residents receiving COVID tests. That bring the state to more than 8 million tests performed during the pandemic.
The state’s positivity rate on those tests has continued to decline, with a 3.8% positivity rate on all tests over the last seven days. In that time, 10.7% of individuals tested for the virus have returned positive results.
Currently, 778 Indiana residents are hospitalized due to the virus, the lowest number in that category since late September when hospitalizations were at their lowest during the pandemic. Approximately 5.3% of the state’s ICU beds are currently in use by COVID patients, while 2.4% of the state’s ventilators are being used by coronavirus patients.
Most areas of Indiana are seeing reductions in positivity rates and new cases, including all five counties in northwest Indiana that are part of the NBC 5 viewing area. In fact, only three counties in the state are seeing increases in positivity rates or cases, including Whitley County in northeast Indiana, where the positivity rate has increased to 10.24% in recent days.
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